He watched him for a long moment, blue eyes boring into the other man's, without flinching. They were eyes that had seen everything, had seen it far more times than he ever would have liked. They were eyes that knew death, intimately.

"Why should I believe that?"

He pulled back the hammer on the gun, for emphasis. A stupid, unnecessary gesture, but it said more than any number of words about his unwillingness to be led down a merry little path.

"Tell me why I should believe the man who threatened to bomb my fledglings in their beds, without any honour whatsoever?

And there is insult in his voice at that. And a grim determination to protect those lives as best he can.